WAPAKONETA < The murder trial for Kimberly Anderson is set to begin
Monday but could be moved to another county if fair and unbiased jurors cannot be found.
Auglaize County Common Pleas Court Judge Frederick Pepple has not ruled
on the change of venue motion originally filed in April by Kimberly Andersonıs attorney,
Alan Konop of Toledo. By law, Pepple could hold a special hearing for the motion, but it
is not required.
A ³last minute hearing² scheduled for today to discuss outstanding
motions was vacated Monday.
Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce has asked the court to make a
³good faith² attempt to seat a jury before ruling on the motion.
³In making its determination the trial court should closely scrutinize
voir dire (examination of prospective jurors) and consider whether a jury
can lay aside the impressions or opinions formed from pretrial publicity,² Pierce wrote
in his response to Konopıs motion to move the case out of Auglaize County.
Konop, in his motion for change of venue, insists that it will not be
possible to find fair and unbiased jurors in Auglaize County. Konop has suggested the
court summon more than 200 prospective jurors for questioning scheduled to begin first
thing Monday morning.
³Even in the event of a pool of 200 prospective jurors, it is a
reasonable likelihood that a panel of fair and impartial jurors could not be
selected,² Konop stated in support of his change of venue motion.
Pierce believes no more than 150 prospective jurors need to be called
upon, according to his statement to the court.
It has been more than a year since Kimberly Anderson, 38, admitted to
shooting her estranged husband, Brent Anderson, on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2, 2001.
She was indicted in December 2001 and charged with aggravated murder, murder and voluntary
manslaughter in the multiple-shooting death. She has claimed she fired at the 37-year-old
Celina attorney as he came after her in the home the couple once shared in rural
Wapakoneta. A divorce was pending.
Anderson has remained free on her own recognizance after posting a
$37,000 bond. She also has retained custody of the coupleıs two young sons.
The maximum sentence she faces if convicted is life in prison with the
possibility of parole after 20 years.
Both Konop and Pierce have submitted extensive subpoena lists to the
court with many of the 40-plus potential witnesses tapped by both Konop and the
prosecutor.
Pepple has asked both sides to submit any other stipulations in the
case in writing and present them to the court prior to the start of the trial. He also has
asked Konop and Pierce to be ready to begin Monday at 8:30 a.m. and is expecting voir dire
to last at least throughout the morning.